Looking back on 2010, I am inspired by the grace and power of the imagination in the midst of challenging times. Over the past year, the Arts & Democracy Project has had the good fortune to connect with people, projects, and communities that embody this creative spark.

This is not to understate the challenges of 2010 that we will continue to face in the year to come. Inequality and polarization are on the rise. People have lost their jobs and their homes and the rhetoric of intolerance has stimulated violence. Culture wars, mass media, and cynicism all challenge our democracy, and our environment and human rights continue to be at risk. Natalia Koliada and Nikolai Khalezin of theBelarus Free Theater, participants in our Bridge Conversations, have recently gone into hiding after Koliada was detained in the post-election crackdown in Belarus. The theater threatens the dictatorship through the power of its imagination.

As we move into 2011 let us remember that social justice is a creative act that depends on us all.